Movie Review: "Night at the Museum"
Category: Movies...
Posted Thursday, December 28, 2006 at 03:57 PM [GMT-6]

Note: The following review probably contains plot spoilers, but if you're the kind of moviegoer that worries about a plot in a movie like this, you really need to get a life. I mean that with the utmost respect, of course.

My wife is off work until next week, so we caught a matinée of Ben Stiller's new movie, Night at the Museum. It's a harmless bit of fluff that has some true entertainment value if you go in with the right expectations.

I'm sure you've surmised the plot by now. Stiller plays a night watchman at the New York Museum of Natural History, and he soon learns that history truly comes to life each night, thanks to some ancient Egyptian magic. He encounters everything from a skeletal T-Rex who "lives" to chase his own rib, to Teddy Roosevelt, played by Robin Williams. (Why Teddy is on display in the Museum of Natural History is never adequately explained.)

Museum is basically a series of gags showcasing Stiller's not inconsequential comedic talents, along with those of Williams, Owen Wilson (as a really tiny cowboy - sort of a mini-Roy O'Bannon from Shanghai Noon/Knights), and Ricky Gervais (as the museum's director). All of the comedy is kid-friendly (and the theater full of mostly young children paid rapt attention to the on-screen action, occasionally providing running commentary that added to the fun of the movie), although there are plenty of jokes for adults, as well. (Stiller's character gently breaks it to the Confederate soldiers that the North won the Civil War, but the South got the Allman Brothers and NASCAR, so it sort of evened out.)

The addition of Dick van Dyke and a feisty-but-looney Mickey Rooney added to the fun of the film from an adult perspective. Another adults-only (in that the kids just wouldn't catch it) moment was early in the movie when Stiller visits the employment agency that lands him the museum job interview, and the employment consultant is none other than his real-life mom, Ann Meara. At one point, desperate for a job lead, he tries to ingratiate himself to her by telling her that as soon as he saw her behind the desk, he felt a real connection. She stares at him for a second, then replies, "I felt no connection." OK, it's funnier in person. (Incidentally, in 30 years, Ben is going to be the spitting image of his dad, not only in looks, but also in posture and build. He needs to enjoy life while he can.)

Based on the fact that the kids in the theater enjoyed the movie, and I got a significant quota of out-loud laughs from it, I'll rate it two-and-a-half whatevers. Take the kids to see it, enjoy some popcorn; it's not a bad way to spend some free time.

Footnotes:

• It's official: I'm old. I handed a $20 to the girl in the ticket booth, expecting to get $8 in change (matinées are $6 in Midland). Instead, she counts out nine dollars and gives me two tickets marked "Senior." Didn't even ask. Just did it. I kept the extra buck. Darn kids.


• Sit through the credits, at least half way, as there are two additional short scenes. One ties up one of the loose ends of the plot. The other is played just for laughs by van Dyke and Rooney. You know, the really old guys.


• The trailer for next summer's Transformers is awesome. Ten out of ten kids in the theater this afternoon agreed. Even the old ones.